7d ago

Marc Maron, Shane Gillis slam fellow comedians performing at Saudi comedy festival

www.independent.co.uk

Some of the world’s best-known comedians -- including American performers Dave Chappelle, Pete Davidson, Louis C.K., and Bill Burr -- have been dubbed “sellouts” for taking part in a Saudi state-sponsored comedy festival in the wake of another journalist’s killing, and a reported rise in executions for non-lethal and drug-related crimes, along with long prison sentences imposed for social media posts.

The Riyadh Comedy Festival, hosted by Saudi Arabia’s government, is a new, lucrative gig for big-name comedians as the country expands its entertainment sector as part of “Saudi Vision 2030.” The initiative, brainchild of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, also includes the highly-controversial LIV Golf tournament and investments in the tech, gaming, and venture capital sectors.

96 comments

PETE DAVIDSON?? The guy whose origin story is literally that his dad died during the 9/11 terror attacks orchestrated by the Saudis? THAT Pete Davidson??
- Maybe he's going in undercover as a comedian to get revenge?
  
  It's gonna be really hard for him to pretend to be a comedian
  
  undercover as a comedian
  Which one?
  
  His ~~comedy~~ skit is revenge. Sorry couldn't write that, it would have been hate crime.
- You mean to tell me that a guy who sells Axe body spray might not care where his money comes from, regardless of how it makes him look?
If anyone expected Marc Maron to be anything except against this entirely they've definitely never actually heard Marc Maron once.
From the folks that brought you 9/11, two weeks of laughter in the desert don’t miss it.
Maron has such a way with words.
- Love Maron even more now, and all respect to Gillis and Zach Woods, but I did expect more from Burr and Ansari, and Mark Normand was disappointing too. Bill Cosby and Woody Allen made me laugh though. Who's showing up for those two?
  
  People who don’t give a fuck about women….sooo a lot of Saudi's I’d assume
- “I mean, the same guy that’s going to pay them, is the same guy that paid that guy to bonesaw Jamal Khashoggi and put him in a f***ing suitcase,” Maron also said. “But don’t let that stop the yuks, it’s going to be a good time.”
- Yeah but Marc Maron is also this angry old school guys who does't understand modern things while telling you to play this fun game called rocket league.
  
  Does Marc Maron play Rocket League?
Damn seeing Bill Burr's name on that list makes me sad. The others all make total sense. But Bill Burr damn.
- Pete Davidson didn't make sense either. Dad dies in the towers on 9/11 and he thinks this is cool?
  
  Never forget, until the check clears that is.
  
  Chapelle talking about how bad Hollywood is and not worth it...smh
  
  I had a feeling he exploits the 9/11 thing for sympathy.
Burr was the most shocking. Torched his brand and legacy with this move, hope the paycheck was worth it.
worst part of it is none of these guys were struggling. All of them could easily turn it down and they would be just fine.
Credit to those like Shane Gillis, Nimesh Patel and Stavvy for turning it down.
- Glad Stavros has a backbone. I love all the cum boys.
- Nimesh Patel is still listed on the site as appearing 😓
  
  Sites not updated, he's been posting that he cancelled.
  150k isn't chump change for him either, he's not as well off as Stavvy or Gillis.
Burr was surprising. Not in a "Oh my god he would never!" sort of way, but in a "huh. That shoe finally dropped. Was wondering when that was gonna happen" way.
No one expects better from Chappelle or C.K anymore. They're already disgraced so they may as well sell out.
Segura was disappointing. Iglesias wasn't surprising. Davidson was surprising given his background, but my expectations for him are already so low that it wasn't a letdown.
- You were surprised by Tom "fuck you poors" Segura? Dude hasn't even been funny in years
- Plot twist, Burr goes there and has a Philly era rant and incites a civil war.
I've lost all respect for the comedians performing in this festival, but gained a lot of respect for the ones who turned down the money out of principle.
- Bill Burr is the biggest disappointment for me. Thought he was at least a little better than that.
  Jim Jeffries is a surprise, and Jack Whitehall, but no big loss for me there.
  
  Jeffries didn't surprise me at all, guy always came across as adrift at best. He doesn't have a good sense of right and wrong.
  I remember one time he brought his toddler on stage to a rowdy podcast/comedy club scene. All the other comics had to chew him out before he finally left. https://open.spotify.com/episode/1LBf9sftjeNhYl4jUuGA2G The episode used to be on YouTube but this was the only source I could find right now.
  Edit: 19:30-Ish is when Stanhope introduces him, here's the clip for those who don't wanna log in to spotify: https://streamable.com/rj0k4p
  
  I'm not a big fan of Gabriel Iglesias or anything, but that was also a surprise to me.
Chappelle thinks because he acted on his principles one time in his life twenty years ago it grants him a pass to be a POS for the rest of his life.
i'm going to have to give Gillis another chance and try watching his standup.
- I'm curious; what made you not like Gillis in the first place? I don't really know the state of American comedians, but thought Gillis was pretty funny from the IG clips I saw. Then got immediately turned off when I saw that he hangs (hung?) out with Rogan. Then, I see this article and feel more respect for him. I'm really torn here!
  
  I think Shane likes to get his name out there and get some recognition. He does well with the manosphere, but they're slowly turning on him, from what I've seen, because he's literally making fun of them all the time. He totes a fine line between offensive and sincerity. I met him once after a show, he genuinely seems like a cool dude. He's made some mistakes that he regrets, but also owns them all. I think because everything he does is soaked in irony, it's hard to find the real Shane. E.g. my family are huge MAGAs, but they liked Shane at first. Now they think he's sold out and woke lmao. Overall, I think he's funny and worth watching. Really love that the Saudis doubled his offer and still said no.
  
  The SNL he hosted I thought to be cringe. I also got an impression he had some sort of attachment to Heidi Gardner like an awkward teenager. Aside from that, his Netflix sitcom is hot garbage in my opinion.
Some of the world’s best-known comedians, and also Pete Davidson
- And Bobby Lee
This shocked me about a lot of esports events. Sooo much saudi sponsorship and people going to LAN events there. Really disgusting.
- Yeah I’ve ignored the ESWC because it’s just Saudi attempting to improve its image without actually changing their ways. And I am a huge SC2 fan so it hurts to ignore the biggest tournament of the year
- Money talks.
- Same with the World Rally Championship. They added a new desert rally hosted in SA. A desert rally does sound really cool, but I can't support it. They're adding it the same year they are doing a women only promotional competition as well.
Looks like Hannibal Burress is disappointing us too.
https://www.visitsaudi.com/en/seasons/riyadh-comedy-festival
- The dude is a landlord who supported the candidate who wanted to give people $1000 so he could increase rent by $1000.
  He's not an ally.
I've been watching a lot of Shane Gillis content for a little under a year and I can officially say I'm even more confused on his political leanings and now know way too much about lady boys and their historical context thanks to him.
- Have you watched Tires though? Because it's a lot of fun.
  
  Jesus christ that show is low effort and dogshit. Im a Shane Gillis fan. Seems like they're afraid to put any of their funny ideas into the show, and prefer to keep them for standup/etc.
I went to check who else was going, and was disappointed to see Jimeoin, Gabriel Iglesias and Hannibal Buress there.
- Unfortunately Hannibal kinda sucks.
  Buress owns a building in Chicago; in 2017, he removed residential tenants in order to convert the property into Airbnb short-term rental units. In October 2019, he posted a tweet against Bernie Sanders's call for rent control and asked for donations to an Illinois landlords association, leading to Twitter users criticizing him with the phrase "Hannibal Buress is a landlord". Buress later stated that he regretted his now-deleted tweets, which he claimed were jokes meant to stir up controversy. He attributed the criticism he received to fallout over comments he made on Sanders's age. Buress also said a housing charity had refused his $4,000 donation due to his perceived landlord advocacy.
  So him not caring who is paying him, long as he is getting paid, sorta tracks. :/
  
  Well that's a shame. I quite liked his stand-up. Into the bin with him.
The one that is disappointing to me out of the article is Bill Burr. I've listened to a lot of his stand up and his podcast off and on for years, frequently agreeing with the thrust of whatever point he was trying to make. I had hoped he was a better person than to put that reputation he seemed to care about on the line for a fat pay day.
I heard something recently that was along the lines of "who you really are, what you really value, and what you really stand for is defined by the things you are willing to give up to uphold those values and beliefs".
I guess unfortunately Bill is like Chappelle has mostly been reveled to be in the last few years. Willing to agree to throw his supposed values in the trash if the payday is good enough. Just another mouthpiece for hire that I used to think was actually a pretty cool and principled dude back in the day.
Hell, I remember when Chappelle walked out on his show, while I missed that show I respected him for being willing to go that far for something he felt strongly about.
- Unless Bill Burr takes a rather big shit on the royal family while he is out there, it's a bit of a downer.
  
  I doubt he will since there is a list of things you can't talk about, including the royal family. And discarding that in a place like that is talking your own life in your hands.
These are the most successful comedians. Like most rich entertainers, most are assholes behind the scenes when when their public persona matters and they want to fit in with younger crowds. Then when they're past their prime years of relevance, they start kicking down further and further. George Carlin is a rarity. People making a career dunking on others are probably going to end up old shock jocks eventually
I remember a scene in the (good) show Louie when Louis CK criticized trump in a trump casino (he's often the morally superior guy in his show)
Won't happen there
If America didn't make Saudi rich with all those oil purchases over the years we wouldnt be in this pickle.
Kudos to those that decided not to go but I think we all know that the American ethos is "everyone has a price".
Let's see the court jesters poke fun at their hosts and see what happens.
- In the article it mentions that Tim Dillon was uninvited after some derogatory comments about the regime there. He should have saved that material until he was there
  
  He might not have come home.
  
  I'm definitely curious to see how many of these comedians test boundaries and are summarily disappeared before they leave the country.
  
  I suspect at least one comedian will cross some line but I also suspect that showing which lines are okay to cross now is the Saudi government's reason for doing this all in the first place.
  Their government is in a super precarious position both economically and socially. Oil revenue is shrinking and the younger generation doesn't identify so heavily with the wahabists. But the wahabists historically held nearly as much power as the house of Saud and heavily oppose all social change. The pace at which Saudi society has westernized is remarkable considering where they were just 10 years ago, even if brought about by an authoritarian ruler consolidating power from religious fundamentalists. This is yet another step in the direction of pushing the wahabists further aside for the sake of westernizing their economy.
  I really don't envy the position MBS is stuck in. He faces enormous pressure from the wahabists who criticize the limited social changes he has brought, he faces distrust from the house of Saud most of whom he essentially accused of mass corruption, and criticism from the West for Saudi's poor human rights record. And amid all of this the country faces the economic crisis of the world moving away from oil. It's no wonder the dude is focusing on stupid mega projects as that's just about the only thing he can do without upsetting a huge number of people.
  I sometimes wonder what it would be like if Saudi Arabia were a democracy. I suspect their politics would be far more divided and heated than any Western country.
Shane Gillis... The naive all American highschool boy? He's like ...the American Girl doll of comedy.
- He's anything but naive
dear billy big bux :/
America is literally committing genocide. Americans need to get off their high horse already.
Saudi has a population of around 35 million and 15 of those are foreigners. The people have the right to have some entertainment and all the jobs and other economic benefits that events like this bring to the people.
Not to mention more exposure to western media might help the people becoming more progressive no? I don't understand why people just want the people in Saudi to just be miserable just because they don't agree with their government. I don't see people wishing misery on Americans just because of the actions of their corrupt government.
- I didn't know the Saudis had a troll farm that works the Fediverse too
  
  Not everybody that doesn't have the same opinion as you is a troll you can try and having a civil discussion without blindly dismissing every conversation that doesn't fit your agenda
- I agree with most of what you said with a caveat. If the Saudi leadership stands to profit, I don’t want to support it.
  They are a sponsor of global terrorism, including events like 9/11 and will kill journalists or other people who speak out against them.
  They have an incredibly poor history of human rights violations. They’ve committed mass executions multiple times, most recently in 2022. They do public executions via decapitation, stoning, and crucifixion. Homosexuality is illegal and a capital offense.
  It’s a popular location for human trafficking. Kafala is used to keep migrant workers in slavery. Kafala is a way for employers to “sponsor” migrant workers. The employee cannot enter the country, quit their job, find new employment, or leave the country without permission from their employer. Those employees typically become slaves.
  That said western influence does have an effect. Women gained the right to drive in 2018 and are starting to be allowed back into the workforce. If we shut ourselves off completely, we risk pushing Saudi’s Arabia backwards.
  
  I agree with all of that and I'm aware of how bad the government is but I think if it's gonna benefits the people overall and they deserve it after being in an extremely conservative culture for so long. The government doesn't nor should it get more money but again I just think if it's gonna benefit the people then it's not a bad thing over all.
  I don't agree with censorship as well but like you said they're so far behind in human rights and this is just a step forward towards a more progressive community
I mean the peasants back at home are running out of spending money. You wont get a paycheck not selling out.
Who cares if you only perform for oligarchs and slave owners. Got to get paid for making them feel like classic American.
How does a few elites creating a censored comedy festival for attendees, who can only attend the event because of the financial position they're only in because of the Royal family, create a more progressive Saudi society?
Tons of artists sell out, because it's crazy oil money. Pretty sure Beyonce was out there performing
OH NICE SLAM GUYS
Oh wow. I hope all this fallout they're going to receive is worth it for them.
Considering how backwards the Saudi government is in terms if human rights, it still feels like a win for bringing some different thinking over there.
I would also note:
-Those gentlemen are not perceived as the friendliest to the feminists because they are middle-age dudes. That could explain how they end up in this line up.
-They are more the type to have the balls to go give a controversial show in an autocratic country.

96 comments